Draconic Protégé
by LittleDragonOfTruth
Summary: INDEFINITE HAITUS, See Profile/ After being declared an apprentice to the Dark Lord, he's thrown in Azkaban. Though, that doesn't explain the presence of an unknown black dragon appearing in Romania just days after Harry Potter escapes from Azkaban.
1. Chapter 1

He was tired. He had been flying for several hours now. He was hungry, sore, and filled with negative emotion.

He was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and, according to the rest of the world, the Dark Lord's apprentice. His absolutely bitter mood during the first half of his sixth year was apparently enough for his friends to turn from him. It was enough for the Daily Prophet to feed on and produce lie after lie that the public devoured. The Minister, in order to appease the people, had sent out the arrest personally and a couple of his devoted, corrupted Aurors had come to take him away. He had turned to his friends for support, but they had ignored him. Dumbledore looked at him disappointedly before turning away. He had no one there to stand on his side.

They had actually used Verseritum. Unfortunately, the first and only question they had asked was 'Have you ever cast an Unforgivable?'

With his positive answer, they simply chucked him in Azkaban.

The first few weeks were absolute torture. He could not keep down the gruel that they provided. The only sustenance he could manage was water. On duty Aurors mocked him and Dementors found instant delight feeding on his pain. He couldn't see, as glasses were unnecessary for a prisoner. He didn't know where his wand was, he presumed Dumbledore had it or it was snapped.

His only visitors were Fred and George Weasley.

"_Harry? Mate?" One of the twins standing outside his cell inquired. The other stood beside him, his hands resting on the bars._

_Harry squinted up at the bars, he hadn't even heard them approaching, he was so disconnected from the world around him. He had been put at the empty end of a row, as if the other prisoners could see him they would cause a ruckus that the Aurors and Dementors couldn't calm._

"_Who?" Harry whispered, his voice hoarse._

"_Fred-"_

"_-and George." They waited and were rewarded when Harry shuffled his way into the light._

"_Mate you look awful!"_

_Harry sent a flat look in their general direction. "Thanks."_

_The twins chuckled. "We don't got long-"_

"_-but we came to tell you we don't believe that you've gone dark."_

"_Evil." Harry corrected absently, "I have gotten darker."_

_The twins exchanged a look. "We can't really tell you what Hermione, Ron, Mum, Dad, and Ginny feel like-"_

"_-As we're not on speaking terms with them, but we can tell you that-"_

"_-Bill, Charlie, Tonks, Remus, and Mad-eye all stand with us."_

_A pair of tears trickled down Harry's face as he smiled bitterly. "If I ever escaped where should I go?"_

_The twins frowned. "Not Hogwarts."_

"_Or Headquarters."_

"_But mate, escapeing from Azkaban is-"_

"_-impossible. I know Sirius Black did, but you're not an animagus."_

_Harry smirked and chuckled. "I know it's impossible. But so is a twelve-year old taking out a sixty foot basilisk."_

"_What!"_

"_You took out a _basilisk!_"_

_Harry nodded. He then grinned suddenly. "I never told you, did I? What I found out about the Marauders."_

"_No, you didn't-"_

"_-do tell, please!"_

"_Scabbers, filthy traitorous rat, was Wormtail."_

"_Scabbers? He's a garden rat!"_

"_Wait, what happened to him anyways? I haven't seen him in a while."_

"_Gone back to Voldemort. He's an illegal animagus, all the Marauders were. His name's Peter Pettigrew."_

"_A Marauder a Death Eater?"_

"_But Peter's dead!"_

"_Faked his death, but that's enough about Wormtail. I guess Moony's not really an animagus, he's a werewolf. Prongs was a stag and Padfoot was a big black shaggy dog that we called 'Snuffles'."_

"_A werewolf?"_

"_Snuffles?"_

"_Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Sirius Black. Also known as Messer's Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot."_

"_Snuffles?"_

Harry had spent a couple more minutes just talking about his adventures, mainly the stuff that had terrified him as the happier stuff just didn't come to mind. The twins had been impressed anyways but halfway through describing how he felt when trying to get past the Hungarian Horntail, a pissed off Auror told them their time was up.

The twins had departed reluctantly and, as soon as they were out of the hallway, the row was filled with Dementors, reducing Harry to a quivering heap.

-

As his thoughts had been on the Horntail when the Dementors showed up, those were the memories that were brought up to be twisted beyond reality.

After all, what else would explain him turning into a dragon and torching the nearest Dementors with emerald green flame?

* * *

A/N: I realize I've got others to update, but this one wouldn't leave me alone. More soon as the next part was written _before_ this one. See you! 


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Harry Potter awoke, he was incredibly stiff. Going to stretch, he was rewarded with banging a new pair of appendages on the ceiling of his cell. Turning his head to look, he realized he had wings. That and he could see just fine.

Upon further inspection he found scales and a tail. After the shock had passed he began to panic. Why hadn't anyone come by and found him like this. Looking outside his cell, he discovered the opposite wall was smoking slightly. Thinking back at the last time he was awake he deduced that he hadn't been out that long.

Thinking about needing to be back in his normal body, he was gifted with a painless and nearly immediate transformation. He was also hit by the extreme cold he hadn't noticed in his dragon form. His fixed vision had transferred over to his human body along with rather superb hearing.

Breathing onto his cold hands to warm them up, his throat tightened and he coughed up a small handful of flames. They sat in his hands, spreading heat through his body and light through his cell. It wasn't for a couple of moments that he realized what was wrong with holding green flames that weren't feeding off of any fuel.

Dropping the flame as he leapt to his feet, he was startled when they simply sat there, neither growing nor extinguishing. He scooped them up again, figuring if they hadn't hurt him earlier, they wouldn't now, and cradled them close to his chest.

He hid the flame whenever the Aurors passed by his cell and he was able to devour the measly portions of gruel they provided him with. Despite the small portion, he found himself growing stronger.

Whenever the Dementors came near his cell he would shift into his dragon form and blast them with his green flame. Instead of just driving the Dementors off he would actually incinerate them.

His glee at doing so would attract more and the Dementor population was slowly reduced.

--

Approximately three months after the twins had visited, Harry Potter escaped Azkaban. He had shifted into his dragon form and pulled the bars on his door open just far enough for his small human body to slip through. The Dementors had been avoiding him after a third of their population had been destroyed and they fled the halls he roamed, looking for a way out.

He found the place where the Aurors normally stayed while on duty and he figured that there could be a window in there. He caused a small commotion with a group of Dementors, and slipped into the Auror post while they went to check it out. His guess correct, he climbed up and dove out the window, changing into a dragon mid-dive.

--

Taking the twins advice, he stayed away from both Hogwarts and Headquarters. He ran through the list of safe people to talk to and went through reasons why he couldn't go see them.

Mad-Eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks were both Aurors.

Remus Lupin would be at Headquarters.

He had no idea of where to find Bill Weasley.

The twins were in too populated of a location.

Charlie Weasley was in Romania.

Harry-the-dragon scowled as he flew towards land. Was there no one?

After getting to land and discovering the land nearby was deserted, he settled down to rest.

--

The next day he traveled on foot. He was still a dragon though, and he had eaten several wild animals he had come across.

Possibilities and scenarios ran through his head. He could stay on the run and try and find Voldemort, but other than eating him, he had no idea of how to kill him. That and he didn't think Voldemort would taste all that nice.

Running through his list of options again, he found he didn't want to stay in Britain. Going to Romania to stay with Charlie could work. If only he knew _where_ in Romania Charlie was.

Deciding he wanted to go to Romania, he figured that if a dragon was flying around in Romania, it would eventually get noticed.

So he set off.

--

During the day he would change back into his human form, find a tree, and attempt to sleep. He wasn't always successful. He fell out of the trees most nights and some times he simply just couldn't sleep.

Food was another problem. He couldn't always catch enough as a dragon and he couldn't catch anything as a human.

Well... in the beginning anyways.

_He had spotted a rabbit. He was hungry enough to eat it raw and he had gotten over his queasiness of blood a long time ago._

_He froze as the rabbit twitched and looked around. As it took off he cursed angrily._

_Not quite thinking rationally, he jabbed his hand out in the direction of the rabbit._

"_Accio Rabbit!"_

_Nonetheless, he was surprised when the rabbit came zooming into his hand._

_As the rabbit squirmed, a slow grin crept over his face._

He had practiced his newly found Wandless magic whenever he became tired of flying and quickly progressed to simply manipulating magic to accomplish what he wanted. He could even do some magic in his dragon form, though he had to concentrate more on what he wanted.

He hadn't seen any humans on his trip, for which he was thankful. It was due to the people-repelling aura he had unconsciously erected around his person, though he didn't know that.

The only one he wanted to find him was Charlie Weasley, so the only one who saw through the ward was the red-head himself. And the keepers he had with him once he notified them of the dragon's whereabouts.

--

Charlie sighed, frustrated as he shot off yet another spell, dodging the black whip-like tail that had come lashing out at him. The dragon wasn't all that old, yet the spells the dragon-keepers cast kept rebounding off him. The keepers were slowly circling him, as to never be in the same place and he was off to one side of the dragon, the safest place to be when catching a dragon, when the call came out.

"Alright! We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way! _Incarcerous!_"

Ropes sprang out of nowhere and the spell was repeated by a couple more of the keepers. Charlie, just nearing the small dragon's head, had the pleasure of sending ropes out to bind the dragon's mouth shut. His first attempt was incinerated by a small jet of emerald flame, but as most dragons did that the dragon was not prepared for him to repeat the binding spell.

Once the dragon was firmly tied to the quickly established pins in the ground, the red-headed keeper advanced slowly towards the dragon's head. A few of the other keepers shook their heads in amusement, but, knowing of Charlie's fascination – even more so then their own, they just kept to their own business.

They hadn't even been hunting this dragon like they would the other wild dragons. It had just appeared suddenly outside the reserve and a team was sent out. None of the experts, Charlie himself included, could tell what kind of dragon he was. He was neither a Hebridean Black nor a Norwegian Ridgeback as he didn't have the ridges both races sported. He could have been a very young Hungarian Horntail who hadn't grown the spikes on his tail yet, but he lacked the yellow eyes, his instead being green, and the same vibrant color of his flame.

His obsidian scales were smooth and gleamed, even in his disheveled state. The small pair of horns he sported were a silvery-grey color, whereas the Horntail's were bronze, and his small claws were the same. His teeth were relatively clean and in well condition, from what Charlie had seen anyways. The dragon hadn't been very co-operative in that respect, choosing to snap and spew flame.

His wings were a bit of a mystery. He had obviously flown on them, but they didn't look strong enough to support him yet. He hadn't tried to fly off when they were trying to capture him. He had an impressive wingspan, a couple meters longer than a normal dragon his size would have had, but the muscle to actually lift him off the ground was lacking.

As Charlie approached, he locked eyes with one of the dragons'. With the dragon's continual struggling since the time he had been first bound, Charlie was mildly surprised to see him calm down with only a plaintive whine.

Charlie glanced back to see if the other keepers had notice his apparent calming, but they were all distracted, pouring over books they had transported over, trying to figure out what kind of dragon he was. Nodding, satisfied they would be busy for a while, he stepped up right next to the dragon's head and sat down. The dragon strained the ropes, trying to adjust his head to get a better look at the keeper, but ceased all movement when Charlie began to stroke his head.

"You're an odd one, you know that?" Charlie commented and was rewarded with a snort of white smoke. He chuckled. "Apparently so."

He was silent for a moment before he continued talking. "You're malnourished and your claws look like you dug your way out of something, yet your teeth are clean. Almost too clean, but you _are_ still young."

The dragon growled softly and closed his eyes. He shifted beneath the ropes before opening his eyes again and whining.

"Hey Charlie! I see you got him to calm down!" One of the other keepers called out. The dragon jerked on the ropes in surprise and Charlie placed another hand on his head, hoping it would calm him down again.

"Oops!" The keeper called again, this time heading over toward where Charlie was sitting. The dragon tensed under Charlie's hand. "Do you think he's calm enough for transport?"

Charlie held up a hand to stop the other keeper from advancing. "He's still pretty jumpy, but he's no longer fighting the ropes. Any progress on what he is?"

"We know what he's not." The keeper offered with a wry grin. "He's got us all stumped."

The dragon snorted and rumbled softly. Charlie grinned back.

"I think transport might be safe now."

* * *

A/N: Updates will slow as I continue writing. Any name suggestions for dragons? Nothing like 'dragon in another language' or 'silverclaw', stuff like that. I've got a name, I'm just not sure I like it. 


	3. Chapter 3

They found out quickly that the dragon wanted Charlie in his sight. Whenever the red-headed keeper was out of view, the dragon started to panic. So the red-headed keeper stood in front of the dragon and directed the other keepers.

It felt kind of odd for him to be directing the others, but after he realized that they followed his commands easily, things progressed smoothly. They loaded the dragon up onto a large, flat, hovering, charm-infested, piece of wood and guided it back to the reserve.

They had decided that it would be relatively safe to put the small dragon in with the nest of young Hungarian Horntails to be watched over by their mother.

--

No, Harry did not want to go into that heavily spelled pen.

He _knew_ that Horntail. It was the very one that he had had to fly past to get the golden egg during the first task!

However, Harry apparently didn't have a choice in where he was going to go. He was going into that pen.

--

The pen was large, enough for two fully grown dragons to co-exist as long as they weren't _too_ territorial. It was big enough for a fully grown Hungarian Horntail and her seven fledglings.

Charlie agreed with putting the new dragon in with them. The Horntail had hissed at the newcomer, but decided he wasn't a threat to her offspring and proceeded to ignore him.

The little black dragon was smaller than the Horntail fledglings. He was also apparently terrified of all of them, even the smallest which was only a foot longer than he was. He had scampered into a corner when the Horntail hissed at him and he hadn't moved out of there yet. It had been half a week already.

The keepers figured he was older then the fledglings and that he wasn't going to get that much bigger unless he lived remarkably long. During inspection, they had found he was perfectly formed, with no disfigurations. His only defects were his malnutrition and lack of strength in his wings.

They fed the dragons every morning, but the little dragon hadn't come out for food. Charlie took it upon himself to personally bring the black food. The dragon seemed grateful and didn't attack Charlie, not even to get the food he carried. The other keepers were distracting the Horntails with their own food while he carried out his mission.

The food he supplied the dragon was laced with nutritional potions.

--

As the fledglings grew larger, the little black merely filled out healthily. Charlie was worried about his wings however. The little Horntails were often flying around, but the black had yet to leave the ground.

Everything changed one day.

It had started out the same, though Charlie was a lot more relaxed when he snuck past the Horntails. He had fed the lone dragon, sitting and talking about nothing to him while he inspected the state of his wings. Sometimes he wondered if the black could understand him as he talked about more serious topics. The dragon certainly obeyed some commands.

"It's really odd, to have my family divided like this." He spoke as he prodded gently at the underside of a wing, having it lift and spread open. "I'm not used to opposing my parents, y'know?" The dragon rumbled a little and his wings seemed to droop. The dragon glanced out at the family of Horntails and did the equivalent of a sigh. "Perhaps you don't, but at least I'm not the only one. Hell, I'm not even _there_!"

The dragon stiffened and he drew his wing in tightly. Charlie looked over to where the dragon was looking to find one of the larger young Horntails walking over. It seemed quite interested in the human next to the dragon.

The little black rose and his wings spread a bit. He stepped in between Charlie and the Horntail and growled warningly. The Horntail stopped to look over the scene.

Charlie pulled a medallion out of his pocket and gripped it tightly. _"Guys? I have a curious Horntail over here, I may need backup."_

--

The Horntail, though a dragon, wasn't interested in harming the smaller dragon or the human. He was also quite intelligent and the leader of his nestlings. All of the Horntails were aware that the red-furred human went past them every day with meat. Since their mother ignored him, the other Horntails ignored him as well, but this dragon was just a bit more independent and curious than the others.

When the smaller dragon growled at him, he could hear the fear in his voice.

"Don't come any closer."

That's what the little dragon had said.

"I'm not going to do anything." He replied with an amused rumble. "Not even to your human."

-

Harry was, to put it lightly, shocked that the other dragon spoke to him.

"He's not mine, he's his own person." He growled back, still wary of the bigger dragon.

The Horntail snorted. "You consider him a friend, companion, no?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Then he's _your_ friend. Right?"

Harry stayed silent and the other dragon sighed.

"Why don't you come out ever? Come fly with us."

Harry's head jerked up in shock and he felt Charlie move to a safer spot behind him.

"You- you want me to?"

"Well, why not?"

"I'm not really a dragon."

There was silence from the Horntail and Harry didn't feel much like filling it. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes that the keepers had their wands trained on them. Good.

"What are you then?"

"I'm a human, a wizard."

"You don't look or smell like one though."

"I can change between my human and my dragon form."

"Then you're a dragon. If you're not, then why are you living next to us instead of with the humans?"

"I... they think I did something I didn't and they want to put me in prison."

"What's a prison?"

"It's, well, it's a very small cage where you're always cold and you can't be happy."

The Horntail roared and spewed a burst of flame upwards in anger.

"Cage! Cage a dragon! I won't let them!"

Harry shrank back while he waited for the other dragon to calm down. He was touched that this dragon actually cared, even if it was just because he was convinced that he was a dragon.

"They can't have you! I'll kill them if they try to hurt you! Even though this is the first time we've talked, you've at least _been_ there while I was growing up and therefore, you are my brother."

* * *

A/N: A bit short, but it wanted to be cut off there. I still need names for the dragons, not dragon types or races, but actual names. Bye bye! 


	4. Chapter 4

"I- what?" 

"Well... only if you want to..." The Horntail trailed off, unsure. Harry sat back on his haunches, bemused. The dragon sounded _human_.

"I'd like that. I've... never really had... family before." He answered after a moment's thought. The Horntail perked up immediately.

"That's _great_!" He beamed. "I'm Dravei, what's your name?"

"Er... Harry."

"Harry? That's your human name, isn't it?"

Harry made a noise of agreement and Dravei countered with a negative snort.

"You're a dragon here, you need a dragon's name." He glanced back at the other Horntails, many of which were watching them. He turned back to Harry. "Would you object to Mother giving you a name?"

"I- no, not really. I mean, I wouldn't object."

Dravei gave a grin and spun around to face the other Horntails. "Okay! C'mon!"

He bounded off towards his mother. Harry hesitated then walked slowly out of the small corner area he had lived in. In the time it took him to make his way over, Dravei had already explained everything – including his human heritage – and his mother was giving Harry a considering look.

"I am Allei." She stated finally. "You smell vaguely familiar."

Harry froze. "I-I know. I was in a tournament and had to get by you to get a golden egg."

Allei growled fiercely and Harry flinched back, fully prepared to dash back into his corner.

"Foolish humans, my eggs and I are not meant to be used in games!"

"I-I'm sorry." Harry whispered, shrinking in on himself. Allei looked him over.

"I'm not going to attack you." She commented dryly. "You've yet to do me or my children any harm and if Dravei's to be believed you're going to soon be one of my children as well."

Harry straightened. "I..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Salorei."

"What?"

"Your name is Salorei." She smiled and Dravei yelped in glee. "Welcome to the family, my son." She then advanced and curled herself around him. The other Horntails all cheered and swarmed in, all welcoming him to the family. The newly named Salorei was quite overwhelmed, but he couldn't help but feel peace and like he had finally come home.

--

Charlie, and later the rest of the keepers, watched what appeared to be a conversation between the two young dragons in confusion and a strange type of awe. They had figured there wasn't going to be a fight between them after the Horntail projected his flame upwards instead of at the little black so they hung back with their wands out only for protection.

Charlie's breath hitched as the little black followed the Horntail out of his corner and he raised his wand at the mother Horntail when she growled at the little dragon. He didn't notice, but every single other keeper had done the exact same thing. They were all quite fond of him, even if Charlie was the only one to ever really go near him.

All the aimed wands dropped as the mother embraced him and the others crowded in. Several jaws dropped as well and one of the keepers actually sat down.

Salorei wobbled a little once he had gotten himself up into the air, but quickly stabilized himself. The other dragons, led by Dravei, began a game of tag, one which Salorei dove in and out of, dodging the others like he would the bludgers in a Quidditch game. He and the others knew he wasn't up for the actual game itself and it wasn't long before he had to land and rest his wings. He growled at his wings as he folded them up, and then turned to see that Charlie and the rest of the keepers had stayed to watch them play.

One of the keepers who hadn't stayed came jogging up with a brush on a long handle and a bucket of something white and shimmering. Charlie came down to meet him and, thanking him, took the bucket and brush.

--

The red headed wizard motioned for the little dragon to follow him back to the corner he had claimed as his own. With surprising cooperation, Charlie was able to apply the potion to the dragon's wings. He figured it had something to do with the fact that the little black was in a half-doze.

Things easily slid into a new sort of routine. Charlie found himself spending more time with the black. The black seemed uneasy whenever his keeper was someone other than the Weasley so they all agreed that Charlie was to be the black's only keeper.

Once the Horntails were independent, they were all released to the rest of the reserve.

"I think he may have been illegally tamed." Charlie pronounced one night. The other keepers looked over at him.

"Any proof?" Jessie asked. He was the one that spent most of the time doing paperwork. He liked dragons, but tended to not have the confidence the others had.

"No, just evidence. When we found him he had evidence of long time malnourishment and while his claws weren't perfect, they were in good condition. They looked like he had dug his way out of something. His teeth are clean, too clean for a wild dragon. He had no flying muscles when he arrived. He didn't interact with the others until they were mostly grown, he seemed frightened by them, but not by humans."

"He just likes you." Adam piped up, "He's wary around the rest of us."

"He's just used to me."

"He calmed at your touch when we caught him."

Charlie shrugged and sighed as he sat down. "That I don't understand. He seems to understand, he snorts like he's laughing if I say something stupid, whines in sympathy, and he snarled when I mentioned Dumbledore."

"Probably coincidence." Jessie commented, sounding like he didn't really believe Charlie's claims.

"Which is why he growls every time I mention him or You-Know-Who."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably at the mention. There was a silence before Adam spoke again.

"Didn't you ask for a dragon to help in your war a while back?"

Charlie glanced uneasily at Jessie who was frowning at the book in his lap.

"We still haven't registered him as we don't know what he is, so he's not in the records." The bookkeeper offered. Charlie grinned.

* * *

AN: Short, but I felt that was the best place to stop. Do you think he should only take Salorei? Or should Dravei come along as well? 


	5. Chapter 5

Salorei didn't notice anything was different until Charlie hadn't left or spoken to him yet halfway through his morning meal. The redhead seemed to be waiting for him to finish eating as there was a sort of tension in the air. Salorei gulped down the last little bit and settled back down into an almost laying position. Charlie gave him a once over and sighed.

"You understand me don't you?"

It was only with practice that Salorei managed to keep himself completely still. Charlie had often sprung news or startling stories on him; the black dragon had learned to prevent himself from having any outward reactions. In truth, he only had problems now with growling every time Charlie mentioned two of the most powerful wizards alive.

"You're not on our records, y'know. There's no paperwork or anything keeping you here. Only the love the guys have for you." Charlie leaned back on the rock, somehow feeling as everything had changed when the Ridgebacks had left the nest. They had moved the little black as well, he was in a smaller 'pen' that was meant to be only temporary until they found out where he was supposed to be placed next. The little black had adjusted well enough, though Charlie could tell he wasn't completely at ease in the new location.

Salorei shifted and laid his head on the rock next to where Charlie was sitting. The Weasley chuckled and placed a comforting hand on top of his head.

"I'm going back to England today." Though he believed that the dragon next to him could understand him, Charlie was truly not prepared for the black's reaction. The dragon's head jerked up and his body spasmed all the way to the tip of his tail. His wings flared outwards and he snapped up into an almost sitting position. The little black's green eyes were unusually wide and his lower jaw hung loose by a couple inches.

Charlie, having jerked his hand back with only a few scrapes from the dragon's scales, leaned back and waited for the dragon to do something other than stare at him. It wasn't long before the dragon let out a whine and placed himself on the rock, crowding the redhead.

The little dragon wasn't known for being out in the open. It was a fact among the keepers that he preferred to tucked away in a corner or out in the freedom of the air. So when he climbed up onto the exposed rock above Charlie and draped a foreleg across his lap, firmly planting him against the base of his neck, Charlie didn't quite know what to do. The dragon curled his head back down and huffed a breath of hot hair at Charlie.

* * *

Yeah, he knew without a doubt that his behaviour was odd. He didn't really care. Salorei's initial reaction to the news was to hoard Charlie away, but after he had crawled up on the rock he began to think. Voldemort needed to be destroyed. Voldemort was not in Romania, he was in England. Therefore, the logical option was to go back to England. He didn't really want to go back and trying to get past the keepers would be foolish…

There was no paperwork keeping him here. Charlie had nearly came out and asked him to come with him back to England to help in the fight against Voldemort.

Salorei briefly wondered how Voldemort would taste, but figuring that he probably tasted awful with all the dark magic in him, he wondered how the 'cleaner' Death Eaters would taste. He grinned mentally.

Just as quickly as he had been taken captive, the little dragon backed off, leaving Charlie rather bewildered. The black dragon climbed back down the rock and fixed Charlie with a rather intense stare. The message he was projecting was obvious. _You're not going _anywhere_ without me._

I guess that was his answer to whether or not the dragon could understand him or not.

* * *

"W-w-what?" Jessie stammered in shock as he came out of the main building to find a dragon sitting nonchalantly out in front. The dragon huffed a small breath of hot air at him and proceeded to ignore the freaked out keeper.

Allen followed out of the building after Jessie and whistled. "For all our talk I never expected Charl to actually go through with taking the little black."

"Well, I told him I was going back to good ol' England and he pretty much told me I was taking him with me."

Jessie and Allen both jumped as Charlie spoke up behind them. The dragon's mouth turned up into a grin, though none of the keepers noticed. Salorei stretched as he got up from his lazy position and grabbed the sack of supplies that Charlie had set down on the ground beside him.

"Hey!" The redhead protested and grabbed at the bag. He missed by a few inches and planted his hands on his hips, looking rather amusing as he held a rather ragged broom in his right hand. "What do you think you're doing?"

Salorei huffed a small ball of white smoke at the Keeper and launched himself in the air. He let out a warble that sounded like mocking laughter and began to fly off in the direction of England. Charlie shook his head.

"Guess there's no time like the present to leave. See you later guys."

With a brief chorus of farewells, the second eldest Weasley was airborne and speeding after the black dragon. Salorei made a loop around him playfully before straightening out and flying seriously.

* * *

It was weird, Charlie mused, the dragon seemed to have a sense of just what Charlie needed. As it neared the time that Charlie usually ate and he began to become hungry, the dragon descended sharply and landed in a small clearing, settling down to rest. Charlie quickly stretched, not used to riding a broom for extended periods of time and quickly downed a meal. 

After he packed away the remains of the meal he scanned the sky.

"I think we can get a few more hours in today."

Charlie turned back to the black dragon and froze. The dragon seemed to be concentrating on something near his body. The redhead took a few steps closer and stifled a gasp. A harness was slowly materializing around his body, complete with straps and a seat that could fasten a person to a dragon's back. Underneath the dragon was all of Charlie's stuff, neatly packed together – including his broom – and strapped on.

"What-?" He breathed and the dragon turned to look at him – no, he was _smirking_ at him. Charlie forced himself into a causual stance and crossed his arms. "Y'know, I'm pretty sure no one's ever _ridden_ a dragon before."

The dragon huffed and visibly rolled his eyes. The message was clear. _There's a first time for everything._

The dragon stood, carefully walked over to the redhead, crouched down and gestured at his foreleg with his head, intending for Charlie to use it as a stepping stool. Charlie shivered, both with excitement and a reasonable amount of fear, and clambered up into the conjured seat. He strapped himself in, recast a fairly powerful notice-me-not charm over the two of them, and nodded. The dragon turned his head away from watching Charlie's progress and he launched himself straight up. Within a few powerful thrusts of his wings they were flying steadily again.

* * *

AN: Short again. But at least it's out no? I need suggestions on what's to happen to Ron. I know a bit already and he's going to start out as a bit emotionless. There is to be no Ron-bashing. Ps. I've not read the 7th book yet so no spoilers please. 


	6. Chapter 6

For Hermione, staying at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was not entirely enjoyable

For Hermione, staying at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was not entirely enjoyable. Ron spent most of his time either methodically cleaning the house from the bottom up or sitting blankly in his room when he was told to take a break. Hermione mentioned early on that he could spend his break-time studying; it had been a half-hearted attempt to get him to do _something_ other than stare at the wall, but he seemed to have latched onto it as something to let his body do while his mind did whatever it was doing in those quiet hours.

And it was quiet. Whenever the twins were not working at their joke shop, Molly had pleaded for her boys to be near, to be with her at Headquarters. It had only been seeing their mother on the edge of a breakdown that had made them agree. However, they seemed to be lacking their spark, their edge, whatever made them the comic relief in these dreary times. They were too quiet.

There had been a bit of an uplifting of spirits when Charlie came along with his news about acquiring a _dragon_, of all things, for them to use. Hermione had yet to see the dragon, but somehow Number Twelve Grimuald Place had added a large enough room to house the, apparently, small dragon comfortably.

The quiet sense of doom and gloom lifted one day, early in the morning. It was such a change that the twins never even bothered to remember to go to work.

Hermione hadn't seen the twins much during her stay, mostly at the few meal times they were there and in passing. She was getting a little put out by the lack of attention she had been receiving, Molly fretted about everything and everyone; Hermione was fine in her opinion and therefore didn't need to be fretted over as much. Ron spoke in monosyllabic replies only when asked a direct question and sometimes the question had to be asked more than once to get his attention. Hermione found it a little unnerving, but she didn't know what to do about it. Arthur pulled overtime nearly every day, either with his usual job or on Order work. The sparse visitors were on Order business and had no time to spare for a young and unimportant girl.

So she finally got fed up and woke up early enough to catch the twins before they left for work.

--

"Fred! George! Wait! Please!"

The twins paused, looked at each other, giving mental sighs before steeling themselves against the bushy-haired, know-it-all that had betrayed their friend.

"Yes Hermione?" They inquired in unison.

Hermione hesitated and jumped right in. "Why have you been avoiding me? Do you know what's going on with Ron?"

"Why wouldn't we avoid you?"

"And why should we care what is going on with Ron?"

Taken aback Hermione carefully considered her words. "I am unaware of a reason you should be avoiding me and Ron is your brother."

"With the way you two betrayed Harry,"

"What makes you think we want anything to do with you?"

Hermione stared at the two of them for a moment. They simply stared back.

"How did I betray Harry?"

The twins exchanged incredulous glances. "Uh, does the _trial_ ring any bells?"

"Did you forget the way you testified _against_ him or something?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I didn't go to the trial, I never knew he had even been arrested until it hit the papers after the trial and he was in Azkaban. How could I have testified if I wasn't even there?"

The twins stared in shock, their mouths not quite hanging open, but definitely not closed.

--

"—And never testified!"

The twins, not saying another word to the befuddled girl, had run off to Charlie to inform him of this new development. Hermione had followed and finally got to see the dragon everyone had been talking about… well, everyone except her and Ron.

He seemed very docile for a dragon, seemed to be hanging on every word spoken and watching everyone at the same time. The twins and Charlie were all very relaxed, well as relaxed as they could be when excited, in the dragon's presence. She, however, was not. Her attention went between watching the dragon in fascination and observing Charlie in tense anticipation.

He turned to her. "You were not there for the trial and didn't betray Harry?"

She stood up tall and proud, opening her mouth to answer…

… and the dragon huffed white smoke at her, making her squeak in surprise and jump back towards the door.

"N-no. I would never betray Harry." She eyed the dragon that was eyeing her in a very penetrating way and her resolve firmed. Her tone turned to one of confidence. "If he had a good enough reason, I'd follow him to Voldemort."

--

Salorei chocked and his entire body spasmed in shock. The only one who noticed however was Hermione as the other three males were staring at her in speechless shock.

Salorei snorted and the boys sprung into action. Silence and secrecy wards sprung up in tandem from the twins as Charlie pulled out a piece of parchment and began to scribble on it. As he wrote he spoke in rather disjointed sentences, but got his point across.

"Should never say things like- Need to watch what you're doing- Walls have ears- You're lucky we're all with Harry with the way you spouted that off- Need to teach you how to be paranoid- Mad-Eye could help you there- Oi! Don't do that!"

The twins paused and grinned at the dragon hoisting their brother up by the back of his robes. Hermione gasped.

"Doesn't that choke you?" She exclaimed.

Salorei snorted and Charlie shook his head. "Nah, Blackie here seems to like hoisting people like this so they," here he waved the hand he held his quill in at the twins, "rigged up some harnesses to put under our robes that he can easily grab." He twisted to look up at the dragon holding him captive. "Care to explain why you picked me up?"

He was put down, but the harness was tugged on and then the dragon's head swung towards Hermione.

"You want us to give her a harness too."

Salorei settled down on his haunches, very pleased. Hermione stared and her brow furrowed again, this time in thought.

Charlie sighed. "Fine. Hermione, you stay here. Fred, George, and I will be right back."

As soon as the three of them had left, Hermione set up her own silencing ward and turned to the dragon.

"Hello Harry, you've no idea how glad I am that you didn't eat me when I first came in."


End file.
